Huawei Responds to Former Employee Charged With Extortion

Huawei has responded to reports about Li Hongyuan, an ex-Huawei employee who was detained for 251 days under suspicion of extortion regarding the termination compensation he received from the company.

SEE ALSO: Former Huawei Employee Spends 251 Days in Prison on Bogus Extortion Charges

Huawei asserted that the company had not broken any laws, and fully supported the Shenzhen police’s investigation of Li Hongyuan, and the decision of the judiciary, as the detention was based on facts. The company also said that if Li Hongyuan felt aggrieved by the outcome, that he should take up the appropriate legal means to defend his rights.

Since Huawei maintains the position that it did not violate any laws, there was no official apology to Li Hongyuan. In fact, the company believes that the 251 day detention is not specifically related to Huawei. However, this statement from the Chinese telecom giant seems rather insufficient, given the many unclear details of the case.

The major question in the case is the amount of compensation Li Hongyuan was paid. While Huawei’s normal termination compensation structure is N+1 monthly salary (N is length of service), in this case Huawei paid Li 2*N in compensation. Many are wondering why Huawei agreed to pay this increased termination compensation.

Similar to the “996” topic, the term “251” became a hot topic of discussion on the Chinese internet, especially among employees in the tech sector. Li Hongyuan’s predicament has caused some insecurity among tech workers in China.

If you want to explore China’s tech ecosystem but don’t know where to start, check out DecodeChina, a one-week immersion program organized by insiders from Pandaily. The latest installment will take place in Beijing and Shenzhen on January 13-19, 2020. Visit decode.pandaily.comto apply and secure a spot!